Yossi Schwartz ISL the section of the RCIT in Israel/Occupied Palestine, 22.11.2023
The estimated cost of the war is 8 Billion Dollars a month and the total cost to the state of Israel is estimated to be 51 billion Dollars or 200 billion Shekels which is 10% of the GDP reported the daily Newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. It means serious cuts on health, Education, and food. The Finance Ministry’s assessment indicated that “in the event of war, the recovery will be slow and the economy will not return to its pre-war trend.” [1] In addition there is a growing movement in the entire world that participates in the boycotting of Israeli products which will raise the price of products in Israel.
In early November, the US State Department approved a $320m sale of guided bombs to assist Israel to more precisely hit targets in Gaza. There is a growing call even in the U.S for the suspension of all weapons transfers to Israel.
With strong support from the general public, the Israeli army has undertaken systematic carpet bombing of the Gaza Strip, dropping in one month more than 25,000 tons of explosives. The flight of the Zionist Airforce over Gaza and the West-Bank to drop these bombs is expensive.
Israel hopes that after the war its sales from the arms industry will compensate for the high cost for the war. This may be so for the capitalists selling the Zionist instrument of death, not for the general public.
“The Israeli arms industry has been thriving in recent years, with a record $12.5bn in sales in 2022, double the figure from one decade ago. In the last year, 24 percent of arms went to Arab states, including Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. According to the Israeli Defense Ministry’s own figures, the number of countries buying Israeli drones has jumped 40 percent in the last three years, munitions have grown by 45 percent and spyware and related cyber-equipment soared from 67 to 83 countries in 2022” [2]
“The Israeli army’s social media team is already proudly promoting the first time in battle use of the Elbit-made Iron Sling, a mortar designed to hit Hamas rocket launching sites. This is a war for a local and global public audience as well as potential foreign buyers looking to build up their arsenal. Israel is also likely hoping to expand the sale of its high-tech military and intelligence tools. Even Israeli spyware company, NSO Group, mired in scandals for years, is looking to get in on the action, pitching themselves to Washington as an essential part of this new “war on terror” [3]
“In its assault on Gaza, the Israeli army has boasted about using artificial intelligence (AI) in combat to “produce reliable targets quickly and accurately”. For years, Israel has claimed that it is a pioneer in AI-enabled warfare but there is no evidence that it has reduced civilian casualties while using it. The current death toll of more than 12,000 people in Gaza – the vast majority of them civilians – certainly does not lend credence to this claim” [4]
In the war of Gaza, the AI has proven our argument against the AI as it is destroying the forces of production.
Down with the Zionist monster!
For Palestine free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[1] https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/initial-cost-of-gaza-war-for-israel-amounts-to-51b-report/3044401
[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/11/19/when-it-comes-to-the-israeli-led-war-on-terror-follow-the-money
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid